eBible Fellowship

Chris: I am going to talk about something for a few minutes, and then we will start taking questions.

In Matthew 25:31, it says:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

We have seen before that we have to be careful with this word “angels” because it means “messengers.” An angel is a messenger, people are messengers, Christ Himself is a messenger.

The context of the verse determines how this word should be understood. Here, the translators were thinking of these “angels” as spirit beings, and this is why they translated this as “angels.”

But the Bible tells us many times that Christ will come with whom? He will come with “ten thousands of his saints,” and this word “holy” in Matthew 25:31 is the word “saint.”

1 Corinthians 6:2-3 tells us:

Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

This is because we are going to judge the world with Him. And so here we have Christ seated upon the throne of His glory with the “holy angels.”

Now if we go to Matthew 19:27, it says:

Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

This sounds familiar because a lot of people forsook much before May 21, though I do not know if anyone forsook all. I guess this is possible, but a lot of people forsook much in following Christ and in getting out the warning message of May 21.

We do not deserve any kind of special reward for doing this. This is actually normative for the believer. At all times, God says that we are to take up our cross and follow Him. We are to give everything at all times.

What happened on May 21 was that circumstances arose where we were finally motivated and moved to do what we should have been doing all along. This happened to a more or a less degree in each of our lives.

So for people then to get upset because they gave their money or their time or because they put into this, this just does not follow correct thinking. We really should have been doing this all along and we should be doing it now in feeding the sheep. We should do this all of our lives as a Christian. God is in control of this.

In Matthew 19:27, Peter is coming to Him and asking this question. The disciples of that day did this. They forsook all and followed Him, and so Peters asks, “What shall we have therefore?”

Then we read in Matthew 19:28:

And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory…

This is what Matthew 25 referred to. He is seated on the throne of His glory, and then we read:

…ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

This is referring to Christ and His people. We judge the world with Him. We should know this because the question is asked, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?”

So we judge the world with Him and we are seated upon twelve thrones. This is one way that God puts this, but what is another way of putting this?

Look at Ephesians 2. It says in Ephesians 2:5-6:

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

When anyone becomes saved, they are spiritually transported into heavenly places to be seated in Christ. Where He is, we are.

The problem that a lot of people have with Matthew 25 is that they are thinking that this is referring to the end of all things, and it is the end. It is the end of God’s salvation plan. It is Judgment Day. But the five months have to be factored in. We are still here, and yet Judgment Day was May 21 and will be continuous until October 21. And so how can we be judging with Him?

Well, God saved all of His elect. Then all of them were seated in heavenly places in Christ.

Go back to Matthew 25. We read in Matthew 25:32:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

Another way of saying this is that He is separating the wheat from the tares. And when were the wheat and the tares finally and completely forever separated? This happened on May 21.

This is when everyone in the church was bundled, like for the fire. As soon as we went from the judgment that began on the house of God to the judgment on the whole world, this bundle of tares was cast into the fire and they were spiritually slain.

There is now no more hope for anyone in the churches, because they were in a condition where there was no more salvation. And what was true of the churches for 23 years is now true of all of the world. Judgment began there and then transitioned into all of the nations, and those in the churches are now killed.

So God separated the sheep from the goats, which is another way of saying this, on May 21. And here we find ourselves talking a lot about sheep. We are seeing this in many places in the Bible. And so here in Matthew 25, Christ separates the sheep from the goats.

Then it says in Matthew 25:33:

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

So the sheep go over here and the goats go over there, and we have this picture of how this is going on. Here is Christ and now He is separating them. He is pushing some of them all off to one side while the rest are all going off to the other side.

It is very important, though, that the sheep are put on the right hand. This is because they are saved. All of God’s elect are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; and so where is Christ seated?

Look at Psalm 110. This tells us where Christ is seated. This is actually said a few times. We read in Psalm 110:1:

JEHOVAH said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Christ is seated at the right hand of God. All of God’s elect are seated in Him at His right hand and they are judging the world with Him.

So, basically, we could say that the sheep are judging the world. God is emphasizing that this is the time of feeding sheep. But we cannot forget also that He is using sheep to bring this judgment. Lord willing, a little later we will talk about how the sheep are being used to bring this judgment on the world.

This just reinforces that we are on the right track. This is because we are talking a lot about sheep; and here on Judgment Day, the sheep are with Him.

This did not take long. Once God saved everyone, He made that final division by May 21 and, immediately, they are all right there. They are all at the right hand of God seated in heavenly places in Christ, and then they are the holy messengers judging with Him. This is what is going on today.

There is just one other thing that I would like to mention about sheep. On May 21, we knew that the door would shut. This was the equivalent date, the 17^th day of the 2^nd month, of Noah’s calendar when God shut him in.

It is true that He did not use the word “door” in Genesis 7. It just says that He “shut him in,” referring to Noah. But what did He shut?

When we look at this word for “shut,” this is often used in connection with a door or a gate. For example, we read in Revelation 3, “He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth,” and it then goes on to talk about a door.

So the context determines what is being shut, like it said of Israel, “The wilderness hath shut them in.” This meant that they had their backs against the Red Sea. Obviously, we know what was shut. They had no way of escape.

But in relation to the ark, the context demands that it was the door that was shut. There was only one door. They all went into the door. The people and the animals went into the ark. Then on the day that the rain began and the flood came, God shut him in; and we know that He is referring to the door.

We made a connection to this many times with John 10:9, which says:

I am the door…

This is Jesus who is speaking, and we realized that this was referring to the door of Heaven. We realized that this door would shut on May 21. Therefore, no one could ever enter into Heaven again, because God completed His salvation plan.

Recently, I noticed something that I had never noticed before. Maybe you have already noticed this, but John 10 has everything to do with sheep and He is the Good Shepherd.

Look at John 10:1:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold…

This is talking about the sheepfold. The door that is in view is the door to the sheepfold.

This context is kept as we go on to read in John 10:2-3:

But he that entereth in by the door [Christ] is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

Then we read in John 10:7-9:

Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in…

Enter into what? This is speaking of the sheepfold. It continues:

…if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

This is the door to Heaven, but the door to Heaven is not some door to some glorious mansion. It is a door to a sheepfold. And so we go in, but we go in only by God’s grace as He draws us in and brings us in. We are the sheep. He is the door, and He shut the door to the sheepfold on May 21, because all of the sheep were gathered. They were all collected. Never again would there be another sheep who was lost and who had to be found.

So here we are. In a sense, we are in the wilderness just awaiting this final feast, the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles.

I just wanted to mention this because this is so obvious. This is so obvious. But we know that God can sometimes hide very obvious things, like when He told things very plainly to the disciples and they missed it.

So here we have been talking about this as the door to Heaven and that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and it is a door to a sheepfold.

 

1^st Question: What really happened to Satan and his devils after May 21?

Chris: This is a good question. What happened to Satan was that he was given authority and rule in the churches when the great tribulation or judgment began on the church on May 21, 1988. But that authority or rule was given only for the duration of the great tribulation.

This is called 42 months in Revelation 11. In the book of Jeremiah, it speaks of the end of 70 years and then the king of Babylon would be judged. These are synonyms for the 23-year great tribulation that we just went through.

So on May 21, God judged Satan. He put him down, but Satan is a spirit being. He was not destroyed, but God uses language as though he were killed and that his body is now exposed and put to an open shame.

But this is just language to help us understand that God lifted him up. God exalts the basest of men, and the king of Babylon was a base man who typified Satan; and God puts him down.

This is what is going on. Christ Himself took the kingdom on May 21 of 2011. He is ruling the whole earth. Christ has always been sovereign, but He gave authority to Satan.

This does not mean that everything is necessarily going to go perfectly for us. Remember that for Daniel after the Babylonian kingdom fell, in the very next chapter we find Darius who was very favorable to Daniel. He liked Daniel and lifted him up to a high position; but still, Daniel went through his most severe trial as he was cast into the lions’ den. This was due to the wicked men who were still in the kingdom, and so we can have trouble; but Daniel was protected, and so will all of God’s people be protected.

Look at Isaiah 40. This is how protected we are. It says in Isaiah 40:10-11:

Behold, the Lord JEHOVAH will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

So here are the sheep of God in His bosom, in His strong and mighty arm, and so there is definitely nothing to worry or to fear. We are as secure as anything could be.

Thank you for that question.

 

2^nd Question: Do you know what Exodus 23:19 means where it says, “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk”?

Chris: No. I have looked at this. I have also heard Mr. Camping talk about this, but I do not know. I do not know. I think I have some notes on this in another Bible, but it definitely did not stay in my mind, and so I cannot help you with this. But thank you.

 

3^rd Question: Where is Satan now?

Chris: Satan is doing what he has always done. He is going about as a “roaring lion…seeking whom he may devour.” He is trying to do what he has always done, which is to disrupt the Kingdom of God, to come against the people of God. This has always been his goal. And so Satan exists. He was not killed.

Look at Revelation 19. Revelation 19:20 says:

And the beast was taken…

“The beast” is Satan’s name primarily for the great tribulation during his rule in the church. But also remember that there were two beasts. One came up out of the sea and then a second beast came up in Revelation 13, which had “two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” This indicated that he identified with Christ, and this particularly had to do with the church.

So here in Revelation 19, which speaks of the marriage supper of the Lamb, this is looking at May 21, Judgment Day, and finally October 21, Judgment Day. The fowls are coming because God defeated the army of Satan. He slew the king and took his kingdom.

So we have dead bodies everywhere and the fowls of Heaven are called to feast. They begin to feast on the church on May 21 when one-third of all of the world are slain, but two-thirds are not yet killed.

This is why Revelation 19:21 says:

And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse…

This word “remnant” means those that were left. It is referring to what we read in Revelation 9 where it says, “the rest of the men.” This word “rest” is the same word as “remnant.”

So those who are left will be slain, just like the one-third was; but this will not happen until October 21, because it will not be until then that it will be known who “the rest of the men” are.

That great multitude is mixed in out in the world and we do not know who they are. They could be anyone, which is unlike we know about those who are definitely in the church because they are killed. We do not know about the rest of the world, and so we have to wait until that very last day of the five months until God makes this clear. Then the rest of the men are slain the same way and their bodies are given to the fowls.

So Armageddon or the battle of Judgment Day began on May 21. There are dead bodies everywhere spiritually. Then on October 21, it concludes with even more dead and the fowls again. This is all spiritual as God is viewing this.

Then we read again in Revelation 19:20:

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet…

This false prophet identifies with the church. It continues:

…that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

So they are alive, but they are in “a lake of fire.” They are not dead. They did not cease to be. They still have conscious existence, but they are under the wrath of God burning with brimstone. This is spiritual. The fire and brimstone is currently falling.

If you want to know about Satan, he is being shamed by God. His power has also been taken away, and now this is being exposed; and he does not like to hear this at all.

Remember that pride is the number one thing with Satan. If you want to hurt him, you cannot hurt him physically because he does not have a body. So how does one hurt him?

He can be hurt through his pride. He was so proud as he took his seat as the “man of sin” in the temple “showing himself that he is God,” and now the language that is used is that God brings him right down to hell. He is nobody now, his authority is all gone, he is nothing, and this is really a very severe judgment against him in his pride.

So he is alive. In one sense, God speaks of him as dead; but he still has conscious existence.

Thank you for that question.

 

4^th Question: Could you look at Psalm 102:18-20? I just wanted to point these verses out. In verse 18, the word “to come” is the word “latter,” as in the latter generation. Verse 20 is interesting because it is talking about loosing the prisoners. Could you comment on this?

Chris: We read in Psalm 102:18-20:

This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise JEHOVAH. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did JEHOVAH behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

This is what has happened. God did this on that great day of May 21. He loosed all of the captives who were the elect. All of them have been freed and loosed. The Bible just has a lot to say about this. This is what the Gospel is likened to.

We read in Isaiah 42:6-7:

I JEHOVAH have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

This is how God speaks of His salvation plan.

 

5^th Question: Could you comment on Isaiah 29:17-18? This speaks of “in that day.” Does this relate to May 21?

Chris: We read in Isaiah 29:17-18:

Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

So, yes; but this is true of salvation. As far as “in that day,” I do not know. We know that May 21 was the greatest day of salvation, as far as God delivering His people. And so He could be focusing in on that, but this does have to do with salvation. In that sense, this would relate to May 21.

But thank you.

 

6^th Question: In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, could Lazarus have been a picture of Christ Himself? The Scriptures are Luke 16:20-21, John 1:18, and John 21:20. Jay P. Green says “poor one” in relation to the beggar. I spoke to Brother Camping about this and also Dr. Gabriel Otero when he still worked for Family Radio. Brother Camping did not agree with me, but Dr. Otero did. What I said to Brother Camping is that I believe that this always starts first with Christ coming as a man when He came as both God and man.

Chris: No. Luke 16 is a parable between the rich man and the poor man, which actually points to those who think that they are spiritually rich. They think that they have salvation. They think that they have the abundance of riches in Christ, which would be the multitudes in the churches. You could look at Revelation 3.

The poor man, on the other hand, is representative of the true believers who in the world’s sight are the lowest of the low. And we had a good lesson on this leading up to May 21 as to how despised those can be who bring the truth of the Bible. But Lazarus is representative of God’s people, the elect.

Look at Luke 16:23. We read:

And in hell [or in the grave] he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Abraham is a picture of God the Father, and we actually find a verse in Genesis in relation to this. Sarah is speaking to Abraham about when she gave Hagar to him to wife.

We read in Genesis 16:5:

And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom…

This is literally speaking of Abraham’s bosom. Who is given into his bosom? A wife is given.

Lazarus represents the elect people of God who are the Bride of Christ, and so we are in Abraham’s bosom.

There is also that verse in Isaiah 40 that tells us where Christ put His sheep. Where did He put them? It says that He will “carry them in his bosom.”

7^th Question (continued from Question #6): Could you look at John 1:18 in relation to this?

Chris: We read in John 1:18:

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

This is true of Christ, but remember that we are in His bosom. If He is in the Father’s bosom, so are we.

Lazarus is not a picture of Jesus. What Lazarus is a picture of is the believers now. This is because he dies.

First of all, this is a parable, which means that we have to look for the spiritual meaning. We realized when we went to Revelation 9:6 that many will seek death and not find it, which is speaking of this time. This is because this is relating to the death in Christ.

The poor man dies first. This is because God saved all of His elect. They all found death in Christ. The rich man dies next. It is Judgment Day and there is no more salvation, and so this kills the third part in the churches.

Lazarus, the poor man, is in Abraham’s bosom, the place where the sheep are protected, the place for the Bride of Christ. And there is the rich man desiring a drop of water, which is the Gospel.

The cry from the rich man is to “send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water,” and the answer is that this is an impossibility. There is no way that this can happen because there is “a great gulf fixed” between the saved and the unsaved.

If we look again at Luke 16, this is a key thing. We read in Luke 16:26:

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot…

“They which would” means “desire.” Do people in Heaven desire to go against the will of God? After all, this is an impossibility, so do they have some longing that they would love to bring the Gospel to those in torment if they could?

No. They do not know anything about this. But do people here who are true believers have this desire? Have we not been hearing a lot of this? What do people want to do?

They want the possibility of there still being salvation so that they can bring the message to the world and so that there can be some hope. And this is what all of us would desire. We would want this, but the answer is no. No.

Again, it goes on to say:

…so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot…

We cannot sow the seed. We cannot bring the Gospel anymore. No one is going to be saved. It is over. It is over.

This also helps explain where the rich man got his eyes, why he has conscious existence, and so forth. It actually fits better than that he physically died and went into a grave.

Lazarus is not a picture of Jesus at all.

(Note: Additional comments by those in the fellowship in relation to this are not part of this transcript.)

Chris’ comments continue:

The rich man wants the water, but this is all from God’s perspective. It does not necessarily mean that there are people out there wanting the true Gospel. This is from God’s perspective that if they had an understanding of what is going on, they would be requesting this.

Hopefully in the next study, we are going to talk about exactly how the believers are bringing this judgment, which is the sting of the locusts because the locusts are the true believers. Actually, this is not even in what we are proclaiming at all. The sting is in what God has done, and we will try to get into this.

I do not know if everyone is going to hear about this or not. We know that great tribulation was on the church and they were pretty much ignorant of this. Five months of torment is on the world and the world is pretty much ignorant of this, as well as the churches.